b. 14 December 1943, Kingston, Jamaica; Jamaican-born British ska, rocksteady and reggae singer and producer
Born Robert Livingstone Thompson in Kingston and raised in London, Livingstone was one of the central figures in British-made ska and rocksteady in the 1960s, recording as Dandy for labels including Ska Beat and later Trojan. He has said the idea for “Rudy a Message to You” came to him in about ten minutes and that the record was made in roughly twenty, at Maximum Sounds on the Old Kent Road, using a vocal he had only intended as a guide. He had his own UK chart moment in 1972 with “Suzanne Beware of the Devil.” He only learned that The Specials had cut his song after seeing them perform it on Top of the Pops.